30 Book Challenge Update Part II

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In my previous post, I talked about how my 30 book challenge update is going. I got long winded, so I decided to make it two posts. Here is the rest of my thoughts about my 30 book challenge…

Once the students have read 10 books, they get a 10 book challenge sticker and get to put their name on a poster I made that says 10 book champ!. They LOVE seeing their name on the board. I also take a picture of each student and post it on my website – they are very proud! 🙂

When my students have read 20 and 30 books, they also get a sticker and get to write their name on the 20 book champ or 30 book challenge champ poster. At the end of the year, I plan to have a party with all 30 book challenge champ readers. I am hoping to get some local businesses to donate some gift cards to raffle off as prizes.

At the beginning of the year I was worried about giving prizes for each milestone they reached (10-20-30 books). I have found that they are really intrinsically motivated to read!

At the beginning of the year I told the students to take advantage of any free time that they have. Other teachers on my team have commented that any free time the students have ( after a test, or when they have completed an assignment) they immediately get their book out and read.

Kids are proud of their accomplishment and like to brag to others how many books they have read and suggest good books to each other.

My favorite moments was when a student (a not very big reader) up to me first thing in the morning and told me that the night before he had read the rest of the book, Jerk. Then he re-read the entire book that night! He then told me that he wasn’t happy with his choice piece (we had a final piece for writing workshop due soon), so he re-wrote his choice piece that was inspired by the book! He told me he typed 24 pages on Word at midnight!! His story- made me SMILE! 🙂

I think as a teacher it is moments like the one above that make all our hard work worthwhile!! Remember to write these small moments down- they keep you going when times get tough!